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Guest Post: The Heath Benefits of Meditation

Posted: 22 Feb 2011 01:12 PM PST

Meditation is an excellent weapon in your healing arsenal, and is one of many factors involved with living with, managing and recovering from chronic fatigue syndrome and a host of other medical conditions. It's one segment of a holistic, or multi-pronged, approach to overcoming illnesses. While it's generally known that meditation is great for helping you become relaxed and centered, the individual benefits to your physical health and overall wellness are not often as well-known. Here we will explore some of the health benefits that those who meditate can enjoy.1.) The ability to rein in toxic thoughts. Meditation can train you to examine and recognize your deepest thoughts, feelings and emotions and look at them in a nonjudgmental way, according to the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. The result? Recognizing the difference between positive, negative and neutral thoughts and training yourself to recognize when the negative and toxic outweigh the positive and healthy. Through meditation, you can train your mind to focus and fixate on the positive, resulting in the calmness and physical relaxation it takes to fully heal from the inside out.2.) Stress reduction. People often look at stress reduction as a minor help in the world of serious illness, but it's so much more than that. Research shows that stress suppresses the body's immune system, sabotaging your body in its efforts to heal itself. Spending even just a few minutes in meditation can restore calm and inner peace and has even been shown to improve certain medical conditions, such as anxiety disorders, depression, pain, fatigue and sleep problems, according to Mayo Clinic. 3.) Deep rest. When you are seriously ill, even a full 8-10 hours of sleep doesn't always feel restorative. Meditation can help by decreasing your metabolic rate, lowering your heart rate, generally reducing your heart's workload and improving the flow of air to your lungs. Many find the practice of meditation to be restful and rejuvenating in and of itself.4.) Fear reduction. Not only have neuroscientists found that people who meditate shift their brain activity from the right frontal cortex that is more susceptible to stress to the calmer left frontal cortex, but the study also showed that during meditation there was less activity in the amygdala, the part of the brain that processes fear, according to Psychology Today. Fear is every bit as destructive to your body's healing process as stress.5.) Countering obesity. Stress causes your body to release a hormone called cortisone, which increases insulin resistance. Insulin, another hormone, makes you gain and hold on to your weight. So if your body is insulin-resistant due to high levels of cortisone, your body will produce more insulin and make you more susceptible to weight gain. Meditation can counter this by reducing your stress levels, thus reducing the amount of insulin released into your bloodstream. Learn more about how stress affects obesity here at the Transcendental Meditation Program.These are just a few health benefits of meditation. How have you found meditation has helped you in the healing process?By-line:This guest post is contributed by Tara , who particularly enjoys writing about psychology degree. She welcomes your comments at her email Id: miller.tara23@....

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